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'None of the bellringers would tell me anything when I arrived at the tower, they just asked me to go right up the spiral staircase to the bellchamber.

'That is where I met Graham and he showed me the rifle. We were just so surprised at what we had found.'

The discovery was made by Graham Clifton, pictured above, under the floorboards in the bell tower during a revamp

Ms Morton added: 'The mystery remains as to how and why it got there in the first place.

'One assumes it must have been a bellringer in order to have had access to that part of the tower.

'There have been various suggestions, possibly a rogue First World War bellringer who did not want to return his weapon at the end of the war, or maybe the tower was used as a look-out by the home guard and then, for some reason, it was left there.

'Perhaps we will never know.'

The rifle was taken away by the police to be made safe and it is hoped that it will return to the church.

St James' Church in Bushey, Hertfordshire, where the discovery was made in the bell tower